In order to deal with the J-20 deployed on the border, Modi did not even attend the SCO summit, and immediately announced that he would go to Moscow to have a long talk with Putin behind closed doors.
During a recent diplomatic event, a Chinese plane landed in Kazakhstan and was warmly received by the Kazakh side, especially the blue blanket.
One of the two important tasks of this visit is to participate in the 24th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Astana, Kazakhstan.
It is worth noting that this is the first time in seven years that China has assumed the rotating presidency of the SCO.
(Illustration: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was absent during the SCO summit)
Since its establishment in 2001, the SCO has grown from six to nine full-fledged members, and at the opening ceremony, Belarus, its tenth member, was officially announced.
Against the backdrop of the current complex and volatile international situation, including the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the SCO summit and the BRICS countries have undoubtedly become one of the few important platforms in the international community that can still embody multilateral cooperation and seek common development. It can be seen that Belarus's accession not only demonstrates the attractiveness of the SCO, but also reflects the aspiration for common development within the framework of multilateral cooperation.
It is precisely for this reason that this summit has been widely welcomed by the international community. Not only did the leaders of the member states actively participate, but many leaders of non-member states also expressed their willingness to participate.
Regrettably, however, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose to absent from the summit, citing conflicts with the domestic schedule.
But you must know that the date of the SCO summit has long been determined, and in recent times, Modi has been actively active in the international arena, in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian and Palestinian-Israeli conflicts, the global influence of Western organizations has been frustrated, and the influence of the SCO and BRICS countries has risen relatively, and India, as one of the members of the SCO, has no time to go to the SCO summit, but has time to participate in the G7 summit in Italy, which he did not join, and it is clear that his absence is not as simple as it seems.
(Illustration: Modi prepares to visit Moscow)
Some analysts believe that Modi's absence may be motivated by strategic considerations to keep the SCO at arm's length.
In fact, there have been early signs of India's perfunctory attitude towards the SCO. Last year, for example, India's presidency organized only a virtual video conference instead of a physical summit.
With the tension between Russia and the West in recent years, the United States and European countries have begun to more actively woo India, hoping that it will move closer to the West. India also seems to be happy to accept such an invitation and take the opportunity to improve its international standing and influence.
From this perspective, India's choice to participate in the G7 rather than the SCO summit may be an attempt to find a more favorable balance between East and West.
So far, Modi's next move after his absence from the SCO summit has become the focus of attention from the outside world.
According to Reuters, Modi will make an official visit to Moscow next week, which is the first time since 2019 that he has set foot in Russia after five years, and it is also India's second friendly gesture to Russia after experiencing a subtle cooling of relations with Russia.
(Illustration: Modi wants to restart the FGFA fifth-generation aircraft development program with Russia)
It is worth noting that Modi had already set out with a clear goal before he set off, which was to hold closed-door talks with Putin and sign a number of cooperation agreements, including economic and energy cooperation.
The most eye-catching focus of this is undoubtedly the agenda of "restarting Russian-Indian military cooperation." More specifically, it is the Modi government that seeks to restart the fifth-generation fighter jet program (FGFA), which is jointly developed by the two sides.
The history of the Russian-Indian fifth-generation fighter program dates back to 2007 and aims to tailor a suitable fifth-generation fighter for India to meet its specific needs, such as expanding the combat radius and adding a two-seat model.
It was only later due to technical differences and rising costs that India announced its withdrawal in 2018 and invested more in the domestic fifth-generation aircraft AMCA project.
Now, Modi has said that he wants to restart this plan, which shows that there are new considerations behind it.
Experts believe that the first reason is that India's AMCA project is difficult to progress, and the other is because the deployment of J-20 in Shigatse, which is on the border, has made India feel the security pressure.
To alleviate this pressure, India's need for fifth-generation fighters has become urgent.